Muammar Gadaffi launched brutal attack on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, about 30 miles west of Tripoli. Rebels from the east and pro-Gaddafi forces from the west are preparing for a confrontation in the coming days at the port of Surt.

Government attacks on the northwestern city of Zawiyah on Saturday produced heavy casualties, battling for two days in a row and surrounding the city.

The Khamis brigade, loyal to Colonel Gagdafi’s son and considered the family’s most formidable force, broke through the east and west gates of the city and began a massacre of civilians. Citizens were dying unarmed in their neighborhoods — attacked by government tanks, heavy artillery and machine guns.

In contrast, Libyan anti-government fighters captured the oil port town of Ras Lanouf from pro-Muammar Gaddafi forces, their first military victory.

Libyan anti-government fighters have captured the oil port town of Ras Lanouf from pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces, their first military victory in what could be a long march from the opposition-held east of the country to the capital, Tripoli.